


The Adventures of Thomas & Friends (Series 1)

by sonicspeedster92 (GalacticDefender4679)



Series: The Adventures of Thomas & Friends [1]
Category: Thomas the Tank Engine - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23445400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticDefender4679/pseuds/sonicspeedster92
Summary: A new resident has arrived on the Island of Sodor; Thomas Billinton. This is the story of his first outings in a brand new environment, with new friends, and new possibilities. Inspired by DaveMan1000’s Kisekae 2 art (with his permission) co-written by both myself and him with inspiration from both the show and the Railway Series, not to mention the multitude of original fan characters included.
Series: The Adventures of Thomas & Friends [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880287
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. The Adventure Begins pt. 1; Edward’s Big Break and Gordon’s Big Mistake

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Human TTTE Profiles](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/578659) by DaveMan1000. 



Nestled in the Irish Sea, right between the Isle of Man and the northwest of England, was the small and rustic Island of Sodor; hailed for its majestic vistas, beautiful mountains, coastlines and most of all, the lovely railway line that helps keep things running smoothly around the island.

Sodor is also home to a legendary hero of worldwide renown. But not all heroes begin with their fame. In fact, not all their stories begin with the heroes themselves.

One of the most prominent stops; the western metro hub of Knapford, home to Sodor Community College; the largest school complex on the island is where this story begins.

\---------

Within the bustling school building, situated on the second floor, was the Tidmouth Common Room, where all students sorted into Tidmouth House could relax and mingle with each other peacefully.

One of these students, Edward Stewart; a twelve-year-old boy with blue hair and brown eyes, wearing the standard SCC uniform, complimented with his own colour choices: a dark blue blazer with red and yellow accents, a white button-up undershirt with a striped dark blue and white tie with red accents, black trousers, dark blue socks, black shoes and a pair of dark blue glasses was sitting in the corner reading to himself.

All the other students were bigger and stronger than Edward and boasted about it to no end. Whenever the staff had certain tasks to fulfill, such as equipment deliveries and transport monitoring, they would usually assign at least one student to assist them, in exchange for extra personal credit and house points depending on their performance. Edward hadn’t been chosen for a long time, and though he tried not to show it, he was envious of a lot of his fellow Tidmouths who got to go out and experience new things outside the boundaries of the school.

“What’s wrong Edward?” one student teased. “Sad of being left behind again?” Edward didn’t respond and tried to focus on his book. Just then, the science teacher Mr Carlin and the English teacher Mr Angelis walked in, both holding clipboards with a list of student names.

“Good morning everyone,” Mr Angelis greeted, to which the students responded with their own greeting. “This morning, one of the school engines broke down and we need a volunteer to help with the replacement train that will be leaving in half an hour.”

Every student in the house immediately started trying to get the two teachers to pick them for the job; pushing in and shoving each other out of the way. “Settle down everyone!” Mr Carlin ordered. “For this job, we’re looking for someone who has great organizational skills and is very good at balancing time.”

While the students murmured among themselves to find someone with that skillset, Mr Angelis noticed Edward still in the corner reading; seemingly not paying any attention to the opportunity for an extra task. He walked over to the blue-haired boy and peered over his book. “Edward?” he asked. “Would _you_ maybe like to help us with this task?”

Edward’s eyes widened, and the rest of the students were stunned. Edward couldn’t recall the last time he had been chosen to assist the staff and immediately jumped up with excitement. “Oh yes please sir!” he said happily.

With that, Edward, Mr Carlin, and Mr Angelis left for the staff van. Edward looked back to the other students with a smirk. “Ha-ha!” he laughed happily. “Look at me now!” After he disappeared behind the door, the rest of the common room just grumbled at being left behind.

\---------

Once they arrived at Elsbridge Station, the workman directed them to the three coaches that were to be used for the emergency train.

“The paint on the outside will have to be skipped; it’s the interiors that need a good once over with a keen eye,” a workman said. “And please be as quick as you can, the engine will be here momentarily.”

Wasting no time, Edward climbed aboard the first coach while Mr Carlin and Mr Angelis went to the other two. “Be careful Edward,” advised the workmen. “Don’t bump and bang around back there like the other students do.”

Inside the coach, Edward could see that the upholstery was quite dusty, and the doors were a bit stiff. Grabbing a brush, he swept across every seat one by one until they were as clean as possible. He then looked through the maintenance cupboard and found an oil canister and carefully applied some of the contents to the stiff door hinges; giving them a quick swing to let the oil seep through the gaps in the metal.

Once he was satisfied with his job, he hopped over to the next coach where Mr Carlin was still sweeping the seats. “Oh Edward,” he said surprised. “Have you finished already?”

Edward nodded. “Yes, sir. So I thought I’d come give you a hand to speed things along before the engine gets here.”

With two pairs of hands, the second coach was soon ready. Edward repeated the same process with Mr Angelis, and soon all three coaches were set to go.

The engine crew were very pleased with the results. “Thank you, Edward,” said the driver. “You did a splendid job helping out with inspection here today.”

They then saw the students filing onto the platform ready to board the train. Taking the initiative, Edward pulled out his Tidmouth Brass Charm Whistle, given to him when started his first year, and gave a **_*Peep-peep*_**. “Get in quickly, please!”

Once the students were all on board, Edward and the teachers waited happily for the train’s guard to whistle all-clear and wave his green flag. They waited and waited – there was no whistle, no green flag. “Ugh! Where is that guard?” Edward was getting anxious.

The teachers asked the stationmaster, “Have you seen our guard?”

“No.” Then they asked the station porter, “Have you seen our guard?”

“Yes, last night,” said the porter.

Edward was starting to get angry now. “Are we ever going to start?”

Just then, a little boy in the back coach shouted out the window, “Here he comes!” True to his word, the guard was indeed, running down the road with his slips in one hand and a sandwich in the other. He ran through the station, quickly blew his whistle, frantically flapped his flag, and jumped onto the last coach. The driver eased off with Edward watching proudly from the platform.

“You did brilliantly today Edward,” said Mr Angelis. “Fifty house points for Tidmouth and your extra credit score will be doubled.”

“Oh thank you, sir!” Edward beamed.

“In fact, would you mind being our go-to student should we require assistance in the future?” Mr Carlin asked.

Edward could barely contain himself. “Yes please, sir!”

\---------

Later at the Tidmouth common room, Edward told the other students about his day. “Not only did I earn double extra credit, as well fifty house points for Tidmouth, putting us one step closer to the House Cup this year, but Mr Carlin made me his go-to student for whenever he has an important job.”

A lot of the students were happy for Edward, but some were slightly annoyed that they weren’t chosen. One of them being a rather strong looking boy with blue hair named Gordon Gresley, who was thirteen years old and dressed in the same uniform as Edward, with almost the same colour choices, only his was a lighter shade of blue.

“Look at him,” he grumbled. “One job in donkey’s years and suddenly he thinks he’s such a winner.”

\---------

The next day, Gordon was glad to have been selected for an important job. The school drama teacher Mr Brosnan had asked him the previous day to help a driver bring a load of special theatre supplies to the school from the town of Maron on his way there. As he stood amongst the other students at the station where the driver was set to pick him up, he was getting impatient, looking at his watch every five seconds and tapping his foot.

“Running late, running late! The shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!” he wallowed to himself.

“Oh come now Gordon, it can’t be that bad,” Edward said, rolling his eyes.

“Yes Edward, it _is_ ,” Gordon countered. “I have a reputation to uphold. Which will be tarnished if this delivery driver doesn't arrive soon!”

**_*Beep-beep*_ **

Gordon turned to the direction of the beeping horn and saw that the driver had finally arrived. "About time!" Gordon climbed inside the van just as he came to a complete stop.

"Sorry I'm late; took a wrong turn back there," the driver said.

"Never mind that," Gordon responded. "If we hurry, we can still make it before ten."

However, just as they began to ease away, someone on a bike rode out in front of them, causing the driver to slam on the brakes hard, jolting the van to a halt. Gordon rolled down the window and shouted at the rider. " _JAMES! Watch where you're going!_ "

The bike rider, James Hughes, was a twelve-year-old boy with neatly combed black hair, who wore the same school uniform as Gordon; his colour choices being primarily black with red accents. James just shot an irritated glare at the blue-haired boy. "Sorry Gordon, but you're not the only one who needs to be going places!"

" _I'm_ the one being really useful today! _You_ need to stay out of my way!" Gordon retorted before pointing at the wooden brakes on James' bike. "Especially on that rolling safety hazard!"

James frowned. "There's nothing wrong with my bike; I get more jobs done with it than you do with yours! Provided you can even spare the effort to actually use it."

"You won't be saying that when they catch fire," Gordon smirked, before becoming serious. "Can you move aside now, please James? You’re blocking our way." James' face scrunched as he moved from out in front of the van, allowing them to continue on their way.

"My brakes don’t catch fire," grumbled James. "They’re just as good as yours."

\---------

Gordon always enjoyed being out on the island for schoolwork, but he had to admit, he was a bit cross at how late this trip was making him. And it only got worse as he looked at his watch; it was already thirty minutes after the beginning of first period. "I say, sir, do you think we could go a bit faster?"

"I'm tryin' mate, but I don’t think we can make it,” the driver shrugged. Gordon could tell he was new to this by his countenance. “Traffic getting to Knapford was bad enough; I can only imagine how bad it’ll be getting back with this load.”

Gordon rolled his eyes. “Right, don’t worry, I have an idea. Take this next right; that’s the road to the Preston Incline. Going over that should save us at least half an hour.” The driver listened and quickly took the turn.

The Preston Incline was an incredibly steep hill in the Sodor lowlands, but Gordon was right about one thing; it was a faster way to get between Knapford and Maron, so the van quickly started to rumble over it. Then there was trouble; the heavy stage and scenery parts in the back of the van were too heavy and began to weigh it back. The driver tried to keep it going but to no avail. Finally, with an audible ***pop*** , the engine failed and the van stopped dead halfway up the hill. “Oh, the indignity! Now we’ll be even later.” Gordon grumbled and got out.

“Oi, what’re you up to now?” asked the driver.

“Making sure we’re on time,” Gordon responded as he opened the bonnet. “Just give me a moment.”

It took more than a moment, unfortunately; Gordon tried everything he could to get the truck running again; checking the fuel and oil, fiddling with everything under the hood. He even tried simply pushing the truck from behind while it was in neutral. But nothing worked and now Gordon had missed the first period entirely and was late for the _second_ period.

At this point, the driver had had enough and simply called the school. “Hello?”

The man who answered was Sir Topham Hatt; the headteacher for Sodor Community College. The students referred to him as 'the Fat Controller', since he had a history in Britain’s railway industry. The driver explained the situation and Sir Topham Hatt was disappointed. _“I see. Oh, dear. Alright, I’ll send someone right away. Goodbye.”_

\---------

In the schoolyard, Edward was sitting on a bench using his free period to study for his third class when Sir Topham Hatt walked over toward him. “Hello, Edward. Working hard as always, I see.”

Edward smiled as he stood up. “Nothing better than being prepared, Sir.” Sir Topham always liked that about Edward; he was always so humble and such a hard-worker. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m afraid Gordon needs your help.”

Edward was admittedly surprised… but smiled smugly. “ _My_ help, Sir? Are you sure?”

“Yes, it seems in his task to ensure the theatre supplies made it to school safe and sound, he had the driver take a detour and got the van stuck on the Preston Incline,” Sir Topham shook his head. “I’m sending you along with Mr Brosnan to help them.” He pointed over his shoulder at Mr Brosnan himself waiting with a van of his own.

Edward chuckled as he quickly packed up and made his way to the van. “Not to worry, Sir. We'll get them running again.” With that, he and Mr Brosnan set off for the hill.

\---------

When they arrived, they found Gordon still fruitlessly doing what he could to fix the van alone as the driver slowly let it coast down to the bottom. “Hello, Gordon!” Edward called as he climbed out. “We’ve come to help!”

“Ha! No need at all!” Gordon scoffed. “I can handle this myself. Besides, a small mouse like you?” Edward grew cross and simply pushed Gordon aside to look at the engine himself.

“Hmm… Everything _looks_ alright. No leaks, nothing cracked.” Then he checked the dashboard; nothing wrong there either. Until he flicked the ignition, causing a light to come on and everything became clear. “Ah, there’s the problem; the battery’s died. Simple jump start and it’ll be right as rain.” He looked across to the other van and smiled. “Jumper leads please, Mr Brosnan.”

“Right ya are.” Soon enough, the cables were set. Mr Brosnan allowed Edward the honour of turning the key to start his van, which he happily accepted. The engine roared to life and the power shot to the other battery, giving it just enough energy for the delivery driver to start it up.

“Excellent work, old man.” Gordon smiled as he detached the cables and jumped in. “Now, let’s be on our way. Running later than ever.” The driver couldn’t help but agree as the truck roared off over the hill.

Edward scoffed. “Well, so much for gratitude. Not even a ‘Thank you’. Hmph.”

“Never mind Edward.” Mr Brosnan shrugged. “Gordon will get his soon enough. Now come along; we wouldn’t want _you_ to be late for class as well.”

\---------

Edward could hardly argue with that, so he climbed into the van and the two rumbled away back to school.

When they arrived back, Edward saw Gordon heading into the building with a sour expression on his face and Sir Topham Hatt looking at him with a very disappointed look.

“What was that all about?” Edward asked

“Gordon tried to take credit for helping with this supply run alone.” Sir Topham Hatt shrugged. “The driver convinced me otherwise. I would've understood had they simply been delayed by heavy traffic, but Gordon’s 'bright idea' wasted valuable time for everyone involved, and he has been punished accordingly; detention to make up for the class time he’s missed." He then smiled. "Plus the extra credit and 15 house points he was set to receive have gone to the one who _really_ helped him get over that hill.”

Edward was pleased, but also greatly surprised. “Me? Oh, thank you, Sir.”

“Think nothing of it, Edward, you earned it. Now, be on your way. Wouldn’t want to be late.” Edward agreed and left for class. Midway through, he left to get water from a drinking fountain when his mobile phone rang. Edward saw the caller ID was his father William Stewart.

"Hello Dad," Edward answered.

 _"Edward, Sir Topham Hatt has told me about your recent performance streak and I'm very proud of you!"_ William beamed. _“I’ll get out my sewing materials tonight and make you a beautiful new blue uniform with red trim. You’ll be the smartest looking student in the house!”_

Edward was very happy about that and boasted as such as he left the school that afternoon to catch the train back home to Tidmouth. On the hike to the station, he bumped into a familiar ten-year-old boy with bright green hair and teal eyes wearing green clothes that looked somewhat old. “Oh, hello Percy! Postal rounds again?”

“You know it,” the young boy, Percy Avonside replied. Percy was a cheeky young lad who attended school at Ffarquhar Branch Primary and also worked as a delivery boy for his family’s postal service 'Avonside X-Press'. "Things are keeping steady, so I'm keeping busy."

"Glad to hear," Edward replied. "Still hope you're keeping up with your studies. I look forward to seeing you at SCC next year."

"I'm doing my best Edward," Percy responded. "I've just got a lot to juggle. But once we get some extra hands around the office, it'll all go smoothly."

“How is the family by the way?" asked Edward. "I hear Ryan's father is looking to start a construction company."

"Yeah, he is. We're all rooting for him. If that takes off, we'll be in great shape and can recruit more people for the business."

"Well, be sure to keep me posted,” Edward smiled before he checked his watch and adjusted his glasses. “I’d better get going; train to Tidmouth leaves in a few minutes.”

“See you soon, Edward,” Percy smiled as he moved to ride away on his bicycle before he realized something. “Oh, but before you go…” He quickly dug into his mailbag and pulled out a small package for Edward’s family which he handed to his friend.

"Ah, thanks. My father’s been expecting this for a while.”

“Not a problem, Edward. See you soon.” With that, he rode away waving at Edward. But because he wasn't watching where he was going, his bike bumped over a crack in the pavement and he nearly lost control, alarming Edward. “I’m okay!”

Edward let out a sigh of relief at that and left for the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dave has also designated fan-preferred voice credits, which will be included at the end of each chapter.  
> Michael Angelis - Mr. Angelis  
> Pierce Brosnan - Mr. Brosnan  
> Teresa Gallagher - Various Students  
> William Hope - William Stewart  
> Lloyd Sherr - Mr. Carlin  
> Keith Wickham - Edward Stewart, Gordon Gresly, James Hughes, Percy Avonside, Sir Topham Hatt, Stationmaster  
> Matt Wilkinson - Workman, Engine Driver, Porter, Van Driver, Various Students


	2. The Adventure Begins pt. 2; Family Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, the character of Liz Avonside is an OC owned by BlueEngineLiz6 on deviantArt. If you wanna see more of her stuff, feel free to check her out.  
> Page URL: https://www.deviantart.com/blueengineliz6

Percy rode onward, not letting his small tumble keep him down. Despite the long hours and even longer journeys, he truly loved doing his postal runs; he got to go all over Knapford leaving parcels and letters for people around town. And whenever anyone saw him, they smiled and said hello which made Percy very proud indeed.

It was late in the afternoon by the time Percy was done. His family lived in the suburbs outside Central Knapford so the ride home after his afternoon rounds was long and arduous, but he still liked it; it gave him good exercise. Still, he knew his mother wouldn’t be pleased. Linda Avonside was a worrier, especially when it came to her family. Her teal eyes would flit to the clock every few seconds and her blonde hair would be raked just as often. “Percy’s late.”

“He works too hard for a lad his age.” Her husband Christopher was a wise old man with deep green hair and eyes to match, but he was worried about Percy too. “He deserves some time to play.”

“Not enough hours in the day, Dad.” Christopher smiled, knowing how right his daughter Liz was. Liz was a kind young lady with her mother’s blonde hair and her father’s green eyes who loved Percy with all her heart. “What with expenses, plus me and Ryan at college, it takes a lot to keep this old household going.”

“Don’t you worry Liz.” Liz smiled at Steven Johnson; her boyfriend’s father was as confident as ever with his red hair shining and blue eyes gleaming. “Soon as my construction company gets off the ground, I’m gonna be bringin’ in some money for this family too.”

His wife Susan just chuckled, her blue hair and green eyes just as bright as her husband’s. “Steven, in all the years, I’ve yet to see one of your hair-brained schemes actually succeed.”

It was true; Steven was a schemer and none of his ideas ever worked out the way he planned them to. “Ah, this time will be different. This time will work. I assure you!”

Christopher just chuckled. “You’ve been saying that for years too, Steven.”

Just then, the door swung open. “I’m home!” called a familiar voice. Liz laughed as she zipped and hugged Percy. “Hi Liz, so good to see you.”

“Glad you’re home Percy. Mum was getting worried.” Percy just chuckled; he knew how worried his mother would get.

“I’m gonna go change,” Percy said as he ran upstairs and scurried up a metal ladder leading to the attic, which also served as his bedroom.

\---------

Under normal circumstances, Percy’s room would be rather large and spacious, but as it was an attic first, it doubled as a storage space for all the cardboard packaging used by the family postal service. The whole room was packed to the brim with piles of flat-packed and built boxes, with a small path cleared to allow Percy easy access to all of his essentials. Having free reign over his own living space had allowed him to be creative in arranging his room around the mountains of cardboard; he had a small alcove for his bed, a makeshift desk, and a small closet for his clothes, which he quickly made use of.

Still, with all the boxes in the attic from recent postal work, getting around was a bit more difficult than usual. After he changed out of his postal workers uniform, Percy looked around and saw that most of the boxes were looking rather withered and it gave him an idea. “Liz! Can you come and help me with something really quickly?”

Liz responded without delay, finding Percy already trying to shove some of the boxes down the ladder. “Whoa. What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing really.” Percy shrugged. “I just figured some of these were past their usefulness; thought we should get them out of here. Need some help though.”

“Gladly.” Liz smiled and gathered up the boxes she found on the ground to move them out to the work office in the yard. Percy soon followed, carrying a whole stack of them.

“I’ve got so many I can barely hold them all. Lookit!” Percy called before the top box fell onto the ground. “Uh oh, I dropped one.”

“Don’t worry about it Percy,” Liz chuckled. “There’s plenty of them ya little goofball.” She then lightly threw one of the boxes at Percy, who landed on the ground laughing, with his stack falling on top of him. He responded by hurling one back at Liz, who started throwing some back his way.

Soon both siblings were going back and forth, pelting each other with cardboard boxes. Even going so far as to lightly whack each other with any loose pieces of cardboard. Eventually, Liz managed to tackle Percy to the ground and hold him in a headlock, both of them laughing.

“Always time for some horseplay eh little bro?” Liz remarked while ruffling Percy’s hair.

\---------

Even amidst all this frolicking, they soon got the attic cleared out of all the damaged cardboard boxes and went back to work getting dinner ready.

While he was setting the dining table, Percy stumbled over something in the doorway to the kitchen. Quickly he caught himself on the doorframe just before he fell. Liz was a bit worried when she saw this. “You okay, Percy?”

“I’m fine.” But he was soon eating his words when he saw what he tripped over, a full bag of mail. “Oh bother.” Quickly he grabbed it up and barreled toward the front door, almost careening into his father.

“Whoa there. What’s the matter Percy?” he asked.

“I forgot this bag on my deliveries. I’ll be back before Ryan gets here; I promise!” That was all Percy could say before he raced out the door. Quickly he mounted his bike and rode out into town to finish his deliveries.

He roared through the town leaving letters and parcels as fast as he could, only to fall off balance from exhaustion in the street, dropping the bag. Mail scattered across the street and Percy scrambled to gather it all back up.

\---------

Finally, he had recovered and delivered all the mail he had left and was on his way home.

When he arrived, he found his father trawling the Internet on his computer. “What’re you doing, Dad?”

Christopher smiled as he looked at his son before rubbing his eyes. “Well, there’s no simple way to say this Percy; you’re overworked.” Percy knew he couldn’t argue with that, especially after what he had just gone through to meet his deadline that night. “And I’ve been lax in helping you with that, but it’s high time that changed. We’re going to find you a partner, Percy.” Percy smiled; he was looking forward to this. “Now head on back to the kitchen. Your sister needs help getting dinner ready.”

Percy obliged without question, dashing to the kitchen. Not long after he joined her, the front door swung open and in strode the Johnsons’ son, and Liz’s boyfriend Ryan, a nice young man with purple hair and his father’s blue eyes. “Evenin’ all!”

“Evening lad.” Steven smiled.

“Hi, Ryan!” Percy had been a bit apprehensive about Ryan when Liz introduced him two years ago, but his fears were dashed not long after that by his sister assuring him she would never forget how important her brother was.

Liz just smiled and planted a kiss on Ryan’s cheek before she went back into the kitchen. “Supper’s almost ready, darling.” And supper was fairly extravagant, even with how tight of money the family was. Still, they did the best they could and lived together with great pride and happiness… and a sore shoulder from Percy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voice Credits:  
> Linda Ballantyne - Linda Avonside  
> Jenna Coleman - Liz Avonside  
> Steven Kynman - Steven Johnson  
> Christopher Ragland - Christopher Avonside  
> Eddie Redmayne - Ryan Johnson  
> Susan Roman - Susan Johnson  
> Keith Wickham - Percy Avonside


	3. The Adventure Begins pt. 3; Number One Hero

Knapford Station was one of the busiest places on Sodor, with visitors from not just the island itself, but also the Mainland and beyond. It was also the first port-of-call for students of Sodor Community College as they arrived in the mornings and left in the afternoons.

It was here one afternoon that Percy Avonside found himself on one of his usual postal rounds, ready to pass on some of the extra loads he brought into the afternoon local’s post vans. The work had been getting more and more tiring as of late and Percy’s father still had no luck finding a partner for him.

Still, Percy had been doing as well as he could, given the circumstances, but still found himself tired out on a bench on platform 1 as he waited for the local to arrive. It wouldn’t be in for a few minutes so it gave the young post-boy a bit of a respite from work.

Finally the local pulled in on platform 2 just as the students arrived from the school to wait for their trains home, including Edward and James. Percy waved to his friends as he rose to his feet to cross the track to the mail van. Unfortunately, the express from Vicarstown had stopped at platform 1 just as he got up and passengers from the mainland filed out, some among them accidentally knocking Percy down.

“Oh no!” cried Percy.

Letters and parcels spilled from his bag and scattered all over the platform. Percy scrambled to pick them up as fast as he could before they were stepped on. Edward was worried so he zipped over to help, working his way through the crowd.

\-----

Among the people disembarking the express was a young boy carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder. He had shaggy teal hair and green eyes, and was wearing a white t-shirt, a teal jumper with the letters LBCS stitched into the lapel in yellow, teal trousers and teal trainers with white laces.

The boy took in the bustling station while weaving through the crowd of people; eventually coming to a bench to sit on.

“Well… here I am,” the boy said to himself. “Time to make a new start.”

Just as he got up to make his way to the exit, he heard some commotion from the other end of the platform.

“Oh no!”

Curious, he quickly made his way over, dodging as many people as he could. As he got closer, he saw Percy and Edward trying to gather up the scattered letters and parcels that were knocked to the ground.

He noticed some of them had blown to where he was, and thus began to gather them up himself. Once he saw that there were no more left on the platform, he walked up to the two boys.

“Here, these must be yours,” he said to Percy. “You alright?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” Percy smiled, pulling himself up and scraping mail into his bag. “Um, thank you.”

“No problem.” the boy smiled as he and Edward helped Percy out of the crowd. Once they had made it to a quieter area of the platform, Edward turned to the new boy.

“I don’t believe we’ve met before -” he extended his hand out. “- Edward Stewart.”

The boy shook Edward’s hand in greeting. “Thomas Billinton.”

Percy then shook Thomas’ hand and introduced himself. “Percy Avonside.”

Thomas smiled at how friendly the two were being toward him. He then remembered what he was doing before.

“Could one of you two direct me to Knapford?” he asked.

“This _is_ Knapford.” James just chuckled as he walked over to the trio. “Where’re you from?”

“Oh uh, Brighton,” Thomas answered. “I’m just here for uh… th-the great opportunities Sodor offers young people.”

Edward raised an eyebrow at Thomas’ small stutter. He wasn’t sure why, but he had a feeling there was more to it than that.

Recomposing himself, Thomas continued. “I know I may not look it, but I am very hard-working.”

Then he saw a large blue streak roar into the station which stopped right in front of him; it was Gordon on his bicycle.

Gordon gave a proud laugh as he stopped and looked the young boy over. “And who are you?”

Thomas was somewhat startled by Gordon’s entrance, but responded firmly to the older boy. “I’m Thomas. Thomas Billinton.”

“Don’t scare the boy Gordon, he’s just here to find work,” said Edward.

Gordon just laughed. “Well, I think you’ve made a mistake, little Thomas. Sodor only allows _really useful_ workers for its businesses.”

Thomas seemed offended. “I’ll have you know I _am_ really useful.”

“Ha! At getting in the way, perhaps.” Gordon shifted his gaze to Percy, who still seemed preoccupied with cleaning up his mail. “You have that in common with Percy I suppose.” He returned his gaze to Thomas. “Oh well. If you stick around long enough, you might be lucky enough to see me setting a new track record at the school. That will be a fine sight for you.” With that, he picked up his bike and crossed the tracks to platform 2.

Thomas just scowled at Gordon as he walked off, but Edward decided to take his mind off it. “Don’t pay Gordon any mind, Thomas. That’s just how he is, I’m afraid.”

"Not that he has anything to boast about after that mishap on the hill,” James snickered, making Edward and Percy chuckle at the memory as well. The whole school remembered perfectly well how Edward had jokingly given the Preston Incline the nickname of “Gordon’s Hill”; which they used as often as they could when he was around just to give him a good ribbing. “By the way -” James faced Thomas and held his own hand out. “- James Hughes.”

Thomas shook his hand too. “And you already know my name.”

They all laughed a bit at that before Percy realized something. “Goodness gracious, you’re going to miss the train!”

Edward realized he was right, so he quickly helped load up the bag. “Uh, nice meeting you Thomas, but we’d best be on our way. Come on James!” James quickly followed Edward and Percy as they climbed over the tracks to platform 2. Thomas decided to follow them.

With little fanfare, Percy tossed his mailbag to the porter who easily caught and loaded it into the van, handing Percy another bag like it as Edward and James clambered hurriedly aboard just before the guard blew his whistle.

The train eased out of the station right on time, leaving Thomas and Percy alone on the platform. “Well, I’d best get to work. Mail doesn’t deliver itself.”

Thomas was surprised. “You’re a postman?”

“Oh yes. My family runs a small company and I work as the main delivery boy.” Percy smiled. “You want to come with? I can show you some of the sights.”

Thomas thought for a moment but smiled. “Alright, let’s go.”

\-----

And so Percy took Thomas on a tour of the town of Knapford, even showing him the school and many of the industries of the town.

During a few street delivery runs, Thomas even offered to cover one row of houses while Percy covered the other.

The two became firm friends all the while. It was nearly dark by the time they were done

“You know, after that mishap at the station, I didn’t think I’d finish on time today,” Percy said. “So thank you.”

Thomas smiled while rubbing the back of his neck. “It was no problem. What are friends for?”

Percy then had an idea. “Hey, what say I introduce you to the family?”

“Oh I couldn’t impose like that,” Thomas replied nervously.

“Nonsense!” Percy countered. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for helping me like you did. Plus my family would love to meet you. Stay for dinner if you’d like; I’m sure all that work is cause for food.”

Thomas could see that Percy wasn’t prepared to let him refuse his offer, and seeing no harm in his new friend’s kindness, he brushed off his reluctance and replied, “Oh alright, if you insist. Lead the way.”

Soon enough, they arrived at the Avonside X-Press building.

“Here we are,” Percy announced.

“This is where you live?” Thomas asked, taking in the sight of the small yet homey looking building. The entrance had the ‘Avonside X-Press’ logo displayed prominently above the double door entrance, and through the big windows on the left, despite the lights being off, he could see two closed booths with several parcels and letters neatly stacked up behind the glass barrier. The lights on the floor above were shining brightly through the smaller windows, indicating activity from within.

“Yeah, it’s a bit tightly packed, but we manage,” Percy answered. “The company is small, so my family and I use the second floor as a living space while the bottom floor is used for send and receive.”

“I see,” Thomas replied.

Thomas liked the look of the place and smiled as Percy led him inside and up the narrow flight of stairs. “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” The inside was a bit cluttered; mail-bags and old boxes were everywhere.

“Ah Percy, glad you made it. Dinner’s nearly ready,” Christopher smiled, happily surprised at the sight of Thomas with his son. “Ah, I see we have a guest.”

“Dad, this is Thomas. He’s new to the island, and he helped me on my mail run,” Percy explained.

“Hello,” Thomas waved.

“Hope you don’t mind Dad, but I invited him for dinner. If that’s alright?” Percy asked.

“Of course Percy. There’s always room for one more at our table.” He extended his hand and shook Thomas’. “Christopher Avonside, welcome-welcome. Supper’s just ready; Liz cooked again tonight.”

Percy smiled, “Well that’s great! Come on Thomas, you’ll _love_ Liz _and_ her cooking.” Thomas didn’t have much choice as he was essentially dragged into the dining room.

There, he saw the whole family at the table. Liz smiled and stood as she saw her brother come in. “Percy!”

“Hello, Liz, wonderful to see you.” Percy smiled as he hugged her older sister. “Everyone, this is Thomas Billinton; I met him at the station today. Thomas, meet my family.”

Linda stood and shook his hand. “Welcome to our home. I’m Linda. This is my daughter Liz and her boyfriend, Ryan Johnson.”

Ryan smiled as he stood. “And uh, these are my parents Steven and Susan.”

“Pleasure to meet you all,” Thomas replied. “You’re too kind to include me here.”

“Not at all my boy; we enjoy the occasional guest,” Christopher replied. “So, how long do you think you’ll be on Sodor?”

“Uh, I’m here to find work,” answered Thomas. “I heard Sodor offers much more opportunities for young people than anywhere else in the country.”

“Really?” Steven seemed interested. “Well, I’m working on starting a construction company and we could always use an extra pair of hands.”

“Don’t be foolish Steven, you wouldn’t want to face child-labor sanctions just as you’re getting the company off its feet,” Christopher reminded.

Steven chuckled. “Ah, you’re right. As usual Chris.”

Then Percy remembered something. “Dad, didn’t you say you wanted to find someone to help me?”

Christopher smiled at his son’s sharp memory. “True enough, son. You’re in luck Thomas; what with the increased workload we’ve been getting, it’s become far too much for Percy to handle on his own. So we’re after a second delivery boy.”

Thomas leaned in eagerly as Christopher explained their situation. “If I may ask, are you good with directions?”

“Well back in Brighton I used to run minor errands for the townspeople, so I had to familiarize myself with the town layout, and once I did, it all became second nature,” he explained. “So once I get my bearings, I can be great with directions.”

“Then how would you like to be our new delivery boy?”

Thomas pondered this for a moment, noticing how hard Percy had been working at the station, so he smiled. “Well I’ve already had some small experience with Percy earlier today, so I suppose it could be fun. How much do you pay?”

Christopher was impressed; this boy clearly knew how to work. “At your age, eight pounds-fifty an hour. We can also offer you food and lodging in exchange for housekeeping assistance.”

Thomas liked the sound of that and smiled as he stood up. “Deal, I’m in.”

“Excellent!” Christopher smiled, shaking his hand. “Tomorrow, Percy will give you a proper rundown of your tasks during the morning run. For now, let’s eat.”

No one could argue with that, so they all sat down and dug in.

\-------

Once dinner was over, Percy led Thomas upstairs to a small ladder on the second floor.

“Just up here,” he said, opening up the hatch and climbing inside; Thomas following suit. “Here we are, home sweet home.”

Thomas was a bit surprised. “Your bedroom is the attic?”

Percy just smiled. “It’s better than you make it sound.”

Though the room wasn’t any better than the rest of the house; practically the whole attic was filled with the same spare postal containers Thomas had seen downstairs, save for one small alcove not far from the door. “Technically, I have the biggest room in the house,” he chuckled.

Percy began rearranging some of the boxes to make room for Thomas, leaving enough space so neither would be cramped in. Once done, he laid down a spare mattress in the space provided.

“It’s a fixer-upper, but I hope you don’t mind.”

Thomas smiled. “Not at all. Honestly, this is pretty much the same as my bunk in the sleeper car on the train from Brighton.”

Percy laughed. “Well, we’ve got an early start tomorrow. First day on a new job is always exciting.”

“I know, I can’t believe my luck,” Thomas stated. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay with you.”

“Like you said, what are friends for?”

The two began chatting for a good while; exchanging stories about their families for an hour or two. Eventually, the two boys dropped to their small bunks and fell fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voice Credits:  
> Linda Ballantyne - Linda Avonside  
> Jenna Coleman - Liz Avonside  
> Steven Kynman - Steven Johnson  
> Christopher Ragland - Christopher Avonside  
> Eddie Redmayne - Ryan Johnson  
> Susan Roman - Susan Johnson  
> Ben Small - Thomas Billinton  
> Keith Wickham - Edward Stewart, Gordon Gresley, James Hughes, Percy Avonside


End file.
